UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. — The Saginaw Valley State University swim and dive teams turned in a dominant performance Saturday afternoon at the Gerstacker Regional Aquatic Center, earning multiple dual-meet victories in a quad meet against Ashland, Hillsdale, and Lake Superior State while celebrating Senior Day.
The Cardinal women defeated Lake Superior State (182–16), Hillsdale (136–86), and Ashland (153.5–87.5), while the SVSU men earned wins over Lake Superior State (183–39) and Ashland (179–59).
Prior to the start of competition, SVSU honored 10 seniors for their contributions to the program. The four men recognized were Reid Gilbert, Rory Kauffman, Álmos Szedlák, and Rodrigo Vargas, while the six women honored included Ella Banning, Andrea Bustos, Kaylene Darbee, Cassidy Lease, Roni Markwood, and Ella Yantz.
SVSU set the tone early with strong relay performances. The women's 200-yard medley relay team of Banning, Darbee, Nina Pavlovic Cano, and Carolina Bononi Heinz captured first place in 1:49.92, while the men's 200-yard medley relay squads finished first and second, led by the "A" team's winning time of 1:33.51.
Distance events proved to be a major strength for the Cardinals. Lexi Hieber claimed the women's 1,000-yard freestyle title in 10:43.39 before returning later in the meet to win the 500-yard freestyle in 5:08.68. On the men's side, Thomas Smith paced the field in both the 1,000-yard freestyle (9:47.44) and 500-yard freestyle (4:45.55), with Vargas adding a runner-up finish in the 1,000.
SVSU continued to rack up event wins across multiple strokes. Samantha Fowler won the women's 200-yard individual medley (2:12.62) and added a top-four finish in the 500 freestyle, while Szedlák captured first place in the men's 200 IM with a time of 1:56.23. Darbee secured a victory in the women's 100-yard breaststroke (1:07.78), and Alp Hacioglu led an SVSU sweep of the men's 100 breast by touching first in 56.21.
Sprint events also highlighted the Cardinals' depth. Florian Quappill won the men's 50-yard freestyle in 21.05, while Lyon Hall earned victories in both the men's 200-yard freestyle (1:42.78) and 100-yard freestyle (47.03). On the women's side, Bononi Heinz placed second in the 200 free before winning the 100-yard freestyle in 54.46.
The diving well saw strong performances from SVSU as well. Layla Winklepleck finished second on both the 1-meter (256.05) and 3-meter boards (232.25) in women's competition, while Kauffman swept the men's diving events, scoring 278.60 on 1-meter and 312.85 on 3-meter.
The meet concluded with relay success for SVSU, as the men's 400-yard freestyle relay team of Szedlák, Hall, Alvaro Rodriguez, and Quappill closed the day with a convincing win in 3:04.30.
Up Next: Saginaw Valley swim and dive has concluded their home meets and have two meets left before the GLIAC Championships at the beginning of February. SVSU heads to Grand Rapids, Michigan to take on Albion and Aquinas on Saturday, January 17 before heading to Davenport for a dual meet with the Panthers the following week.
